Stanford ventures into hell's kitchen

Stanford players walked off the practice field Thursday evening into a persistent breeze that bordered on chilly. By Saturday afternoon, the Cardinal will be walking into a furnace blast.

Temperatures are forecast to top 100 degrees in Tempe, Ariz., this afternoon when the Cardinal (1-1) open the Pac-10 schedule at Arizona State (3- 1) in a rare 12:30 p.m. start.

There's a pretty compelling reason they haven't played an early-afternoon game in September in Tempe in 15 years: It's hot, very hot. In fact, with field temperatures up to, and possibly above, 120 degrees, this game could represent the hottest kickoff in Arizona State history.

"Bring your shorts," Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said. "There's no way around it. It's going to be hot, and it's going to be hot for both teams. We are hoping we can use it as an advantage. We live in it."

The Phoenix forecast of 107 degrees is unseasonably high, even for the middle of the desert. Late-September temperatures often drop into the low-90s. Instead, triple digits have been hanging tough this week.

Blame the unusual scheduling on a television executive sitting in an air- conditioned office. ABC, which did not televise an Arizona State game last season, chose this game to be a part of its regional telecast, tagging it with the 12:30 p.m. kickoff. Both schools get $250,000 checks just for being on the schedule, and in this case, enduring some pretty hideous conditions.

"Our attitude is, don't accept distractions and don't make excuses," said Stanford coach Buddy Teevens, who knew plenty of scorching days from his time at Florida. "We obviously need to make sure we remain hydrated. But the dry heat is a little more forgiving than the humidity. I'm happy that if at least it's going to be hot, it shouldn't be hot and humid."

Freshman linebacker Michael Craven is well-acquainted with the heat. He grew up in La Quinta (Riverside County). He spent plenty of late-summer afternoons practicing with his high school team in a comparable climate.

"But we played all our games at night," Craven said. "We are doing this for purposes of TV, so that's the way it goes. We have enough players and enough depth to deal with it."

Stanford will attempt to beat the heat in all the usual ways, with misters blowing full blast, cold towels and plenty of fluids. But the Cardinal also will be using a new cooling device called Rapid Thermal Exchange. Invented by a pair of Stanford professors, the RTE is a steel plate that extracts body heat through the palm.

Some Stanford players used the RTE at Boston College in the season opener, when temperatures on the turf got as high as 113 degrees early in the game, but the day got cooler as the game moved along, with sundown approaching by game's end.

In this instance, it's more likely that the fourth quarter is going to be hotter than the first.

"You can't let it be a factor in your mind," Stanford fullback Casey Moore said. "Once guys start walking and dragging around, that's when it starts to get to you and spreading among the guys. Everybody on the team's got to be on the same page."

The Cardinal also are going to have to deal with the heat provided by an Arizona State team riding the momentum of a three-game winning streak.

Suggs, in fact, is one of the best pass rushers in the nation. He has collected 20 sacks in the past two seasons and logged 18 tackles for a loss last season.

Keeping Suggs away from quarterback Chris Lewis might just prove to be the key to any Stanford success. Keeping McDonald out the end zone will be another.

The junior from Phoenix tied a school record for touchdown receptions in a game when he caught four scoring passes in the Sun Devils' come-from-behind victory over San Diego State two weeks ago.

"They present a lot of problems we haven't seen collectively to date," Teevens said.

Today's game

-- WHO: Stanford (1-1) vs.

Arizona State (3-1)

-- WHEN: 12:30 p.m.

-- WHERE: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.

-- TV: 7

-- RADIO: KTCT (1050 AM)

-- STORYLINE: Stanford has won its past three games against the Sun Devils by an average margin of 22 points. The Cardinal put up 51 against ASU last season. Stanford has won its past three Pac-10 openers and the past two league openers on the road. . . . After losing its opener at Nebraska, Arizona State has won three in a row. The Sun Devils are coming off a 39-28 come-from-behind victory against San Diego State.